Last September's merger of Avonmore Foods and Waterford Foods created a giant - the Avonmore Waterford Group. The new company, which has an annual turnover of £2.5 billion, is the seventh largest dairy company in the world and the fourth largest dairy company in the EU.

Avonmore Waterford is the largest milk processor in both Ireland and Britain and is a leading supplier of cooked meats in Britain. The group includes dairy, meat and agricultural trading divisions and operates plants in Ireland, both north and south, in Britain and in North America.

Interestingly, the company's operation in Britain is larger than its operation here at home. The AW Group employs a total of 12,000 people - just under 5,000 in Ireland, more than 6,000 in Britain and almost 800 in the United States.

The merger means that there will be rationalisation. However, the company's priority is to minimise job losses through retraining and relocation, according to John Peters, deputy group head of human resources.

As in all businesses, the company's future will depend to some extent on its intake of new young talent. In the past, Avonmore has offered up to 20 places each year on its graduate development programme. It's anticipated that this year the intake will double.

The company recruits dairy science, science, business studies, engineering and marketing graduates. "We're looking for people who are mobile and who have good people and communications skills," Peters notes. "We need people who are ambitious and want to do a good job."

Each year, too, the company offers a small number of electrical and mechanical apprenticeships. For the rest, the only skills shortages anticipated by the AW Group are in the areas of information technology and finance and accounting.